Last year, his son Travis was in his first year as a professional hockey player and the adjustment took a while. There were more things to clean up in his game last year, when he was with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and when he did the results showed.

“He does the same thing year after year,” Kent Sanheim said. “He feels it out for the first month and then every week after that you can see him improve. He did the same thing with the Phantoms. It wasn’t until December that he figured it out and even in the last three weeks he’s finally getting a feel for it right now. I think every game he’s getting better. And I think there’s still room to improve, I know that. Once you get to the New Year, I think you’ll see a lot of improvement.”

When the younger Sanheim was with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League he was counted on to provide a huge part of the team’s offense despite being a defenseman.

Last year and this year that’s no longer the case. It was a transition to get him out of the mentality of doing that and once he’s comfortable defending the leash to contribute offensively will become longer.

It already has at the NHL level. Through 20 games he’s been darn close to getting his first goal, but has four assists.

Kent Sanheim was one of 14 fathers in Pittsburgh for the Flyers’ annual dad’s trip. They went to the Steelers game Sunday night, took in Monday’s hockey game and will travel back to Philadelphia and watch the Flyers take on the San Jose Sharks Tuesday.

“It’s obviously a little more exciting to have him around and for him to get the experience our everyday life and kind of get to see the stuff he doesn’t get to see when he comes to a normal game,” Travis said of his father, who is a farmer and oil rig specialist back in suburban Manitoba. “It’s a pretty cool experience and we’re pretty lucky to do this.”

The elder Sanheim coached his twin sons (Travis’ brother, Taylor, played with him in Calgary) until they were in pee wee hockey. Since then he’s tried to make it out to games as often as possible. Last year he figures he made it to a dozen AHL games and so far this season he’d been to four — Winnipeg and Toronto on the road and Chicago and Minnesota at home.

Each game is tough to get to — the Sanheims have to drive three hours just to get to Winnipeg, then fly to Philadelphia with a connection in either Toronto or Minneapolis/St. Paul — yet it’s worth the miles.

“Especially him being young you try to get here as much as you can to make sure he’s got the support from us too,” Kent Sanheim said.

As his son adjusts to the NHL, his problem hasn’t been turning the puck over. He entered Monday’s game with 10 giveaways, which is fewest among Flyers defensemen who have played in at least 10 games. What has ailed him has been positioning on plays.

Friday against the New York Islanders, Andrew Ladd slipped between Sanheim and Brandon Manning and potted a pass from behind the net. The pass came from Manning’s side of the ice, but he couldn’t flag it down and Sanheim couldn’t tie up Ladd’s stick. Earlier in the game Sanheim failed to corral Cal Clutterbuck, who tipped a puck in from the slot.

“I’m still learning,” said Sanheim before the Flyers tried to snap a seven-game losing streak. “The other night, the two goals I was on for, if I’m half a second faster I stop both those goals from going in. Just trying to learn from those mistakes and every day get better. I’ve seen a lot of progress through the first 20 games, but there’s still little things I need to clean up.”

It’s been a lesson in awareness, just like it was last year, and finding out where the line is on when to activate offensively and when to focus on defensive reads.

“All those are certain plays you gotta read and make sure it’s the right situation,” the rookie said. “Hopefully I can continue to jump and create offense because I think that’s a huge part of my game.”

Loose Pucks

After facing Pittsburgh, the Flyers’ fourth division game all season, they won’t see the Penguins again until Jan. 2. … Tuesday closes out the fourth of 14 back-to-back situations this season. … Brian Elliott got the start for the Flyers, his eighth in the last nine games. Michal Neuvirth figures to get the start against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday. He has a 2-3-0 record in six career games against the Sharks with a 2.26 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.